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commanded "in Horeb for all Israel." Thus, "Thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments," "and his statutes which are written in this book of the law," even in that very "commandment," of which Moses says at the same time, that "it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven......neither is it beyond the sea...... BUT THE WORD IS VERY NIGH UNTO THEE, IN THY MOUTH, AND IN THY HEART, that thou mayest do it" (Deut. xxx. 2, 8. 10—14); "that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. x. 8.)

XXV. (a.) The Sabbath is to be treated separately, because it is the first institution on the Divine record, preceding even this commandment, "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. ii. 17.) Of the Sabbath it is said before," And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Gen. ii. 2, 3.)

Yes, the creation was complete; "and God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Gen. i. 31.)

(b.) The earth was not yet doomed to "bring forth" "thorns" and "thistles," nor man to eat his bread "in the sweat of his face;" the generous lion did not yet thirst for the blood of the harmless lamb, nor the high-soaring eagle for the life of the devoted bird; the tiger was not yet fierce, nor the hyæna cruel; and what is more, conscience was yet without a sting, and man, in Eden, lived in communion with his God. Such a creation was well worthy of being remembered even by angels, and of having a whole day in every week set apart, in which to pause from every other occupation, to celebrate the "blessed," "sanctified" day, on which it was FINISHED."

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(c.) But soon, and "behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand," only in appearance, and "the heaven was black with clouds" (1 Kings xviii. 44, 45), and the earth was covered with a darkness more grievous than

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that which erst 66 was upon the face of the deep," even the darkness of sin, and death, and alienation from God! enemy hath done this!" (Matt. xiii. 28.)

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Soon "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Gen. vi. 5-8.)

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD;" else, the world would no longer have had a Sabbath to celebrate the creation of ruined nature.

But man still continued wicked, and "the imagination of man's heart evil from his youth." (viii. 21.)

(d.) The Lord then chose faithful Abraham, and blessed him, that his seed should be "as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore" (Gen. xxii. 17), "for multitude;" and that in him and in his seed "shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. xxviii. 14.) And the Lord bringing them forth," with a mighty hand and stretched-out arm" "out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt," "he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, that they should make them known unto their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children; that they might set their hope in God" (Ps. lxxviii. 5—7), and that the name of the Lord might "be declared throughout all the earth." (Exod. ix. 16; Deut. iv. 6, &c., &c.)

(e.) Thus was man again to be brought nigh unto God, and ruined nature restored; and henceforward, therefore, is not the Sabbath only (Deut. v. 15), but many other memorials enforced in celebration of the Exodus from Egypt.

(f.) But Israel “kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law." (Ps. lxxviii. 10.) "They forgat God their Saviour.. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them." (Ps. cvi. 21-23.)

Yea, "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up” (Deut. xxxii. 17), to Baal, and Ashtaroth, and Moloch, and all the hosts of heaven. And the Lord "scattered them among the Heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries;" and there they "profaned" God's "holy name." (Ezek. xxxvi. 19, 20.)

(g.) "And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him." (Isa. lix. 15, 16.) "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John i. 29.) But "He came to his own, and his own received him not" (i. 11); but cry, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" And "the Heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed!" (Ps. ii. 1, 2.) And Satan, the enemy of God and man, says, of "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them" (Matt. iv. 8), "that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it." (Luke iv. 6.) And the Lord of glory is nailed to the accursed tree.

(h.) But praise the Lord all ye, his saints, there is victory in this defeat! There is defeat in this victory! Christ has triumphed, and "the prince of this world is judged !"

(i.) But henceforth, says the Lord, "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old." (Isa. xliii. 18.) "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa. lxv. 17.) "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries, whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." (Jer. xxiii. 7, 8.)

(k.) Hence no more Sabbath for a ruined creation, which "shall not be remembered nor come into mind;" no more Sabbath for an Exodus, of which no more mention is to be made:

"But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." "For, as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." (Isa. lxvi. 22.)

And was the old ruined creation, and the frustrated Exodus from Egyptian bondage, worth a Sabbath; and is the Recreation, the Regeneration, and the Exodus of all men from the bondage of sin and death, and the Exodus of Israel "from the north country, and from all countries," to be dispersed no more; when the very beasts of the forests shall grow tame again; and the thorn and thistle vanish from the earth; "and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose" (Isa. xi. 6-9; xxxv. 1, 2; lv. 12, 13); when "living waters shall go out from Jerusalem (Zech. xiv. 8); when "Sodom and her daughters" shall be restored, and the Dead Sea "shall be healed" (Ezek. xvi. 53; xlvii. 9-12); when upon the very "bells of the horses" shall be inscribed, "Holiness unto the Lord" (Zech. xiv. 20); when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Isa. xi. 9)—shall such a new Creation be less worthy of a Sabbath? Nay, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Ps. cxviii. 22-24.)

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(1.) But on which day is the new Sabbath to be kept? Not on the same with the old, to be reminded again of old things; but on the RESURRECTION-DAY, when the new creation was finished, soon to be revealed. "There remaineth, therefore, a Sabbath (raßßariouós) to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb. iv. 9-11.) Well may the prophet then make the observance of the "SABBATH,”—yea, this RESURRECTION-SABBATH, in memory of what is already passed and effected by it, and in anticipation of what is yet to come through it, even as had Israel in the wilderness to do—the condition on which alone "the sons of the stranger, that join

themselves to the Lord," shall be brought to the "holy mountain," and made joyful in the "house of prayer."

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(m.) But how is this new Sabbath to be observed? light a fire? nor gather manna? And the transgressor of such things, to be "cut off?" Let us hear the prophet's answer; it runs thus, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him (it the Sabbath), not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah lvi. 3, 6, 7; lviii. 13, 14.) This mode of observance is as new as the day is new, which both Jews and Gentiles are bound by; and in this way, and on that day, did the apostles and primitive Christians observe "the Lord's-day.” Thus says the apostle, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him," &c. (1 Cor. xvi. 2.) So again, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow," &c. (Acts xx. 7.)

(n.) Thus was the first day of the week, and the first only, set apart, in which the disciples, as by an established, acknowledged rule, came together to partake of "the blessed sacrament of the body and blood of Christ," and when the apostle, ready to depart, stayed till "the morrow," and "preached unto them." And on that day, too, they were recommended to lay by their contributions for the poor saints in Christ. And, no doubt, it is of this Sabbath, too, that he who called himself "the Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark ii. 28), and sanctioned what was a breaking of the Mosaic Sabbath—of the letter said, "Pray ye, that your flight be not ..... on the Sabbath day." (Matt. xxiv. 20.)

And this Sabbath, this Resurrection-Sabbath, as being truly "THE LORD'S-DAY," the Church of Christ has ever kept sacred, according to the description of it by the prophet.

XXVI. In connexion with this view of the law and the Gospel,

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